MEMORABLE MOMENTS
Through
Years
the
The 2013 Hong Kong Open, which saw Miguel Angel Jiménez overcome Prom Meesawat and Stuart Manley on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off for his fourth victory, provided tremendous drama. But as Alex Jenkins explains, Hong Kong’s oldest professional sporting event has a habit of producing more than its fair share of memorable moments.
1959
Playing for a prize fund of HK$2,000 stumped up by the South China Morning Post, the inaugural event might not have had the glamour of today’s tournaments, but it produced a very worthy winner in Taiwanese ace Lu Liang-huan. Lu, who was the head pro at Fanling at the time, would later go on to star at the 1971 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale where he finished second to Lee Trevino. Nicknamed “Mr Lu” by the British press, the Taiwanese became the darling of the Open galleries thanks to his cheery demeanor and bright-blue pork pie hat. Lu would later repeat his Fanling success with victory at the 1974 Hong Kong Open.
1967
AFP
Five-time Open champion Peter Thomson bagged his third Hong Kong Open title of the decade with his 1967 victory at Fanling. Thomson, who is credited with kick-starting the first series of professional events in Asia, was 38 when he completed his hat-trick and, with his enviably orthodox and rhythmical swing, invariably dominated proceedings at the Hong Kong Golf Club. The Australian, who favoured discussions on politics and listening to classical music to drinking beer and talking about sport, now runs a flourishing course design business. 52
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Clockwise from left: three-time Hong Kong champion Peter Thomson; Greg Norman, the 1979 winner; David Frost survived a scare from Craig McCellan in 1994; “Mr Lu”, the championship’s first winner
1979
Thirty-five years ago a young Australian pitched up at Fanling and wowed the galleries with his untamed blonde hair, good looks and aggressive golf game. Greg Norman had only turned pro two years previously but played like a seasoned veteran in winning the 1979 title. He would later add the 1983 Hong Kong Open to his impressive list of achievements. Despite only winning two majors – the 1986 and 1993 Open Championships – the “Shark” is considered a legend in his home country, inspiring tens of thousands of children – including last year’s Masters winner Adam Scott – to start playing the game. HKGOLFER.COM
1994
American journeyman pro Craig McClellan stood in the middle of the 18th fairway of the final round needing an eagle two to force a play-off with South African stalwart David Frost. Incredibly, McClellan did exactly that by holing his seveniron from 160 yards away, but succumbed to the pressure in extra time as Frost walked away with the title. Nevertheless, McClellan’s shot ranks alongside that of Lin Wen-tang’s [see 2008] as the finest (or luckiest) in the history of the event.
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2001
Voted as one of the best shots ever at a European Tour event, José Maria Olazábal’s raking fiveiron from the trees on the last hole to set up an easy tap-in birdie provided one of the most exciting climaxes at a Hong Kong Open in living memory. Having trailed Adam Scott and Norway’s Henrik Bjornstad for much of the final round, the Spaniard paved the way for victory following a spectacular birdie-birdie-birdie finish. Speaking afterwards, Olazábal said: “You don’t finish with three birdies knowing you have to do it. I pulled it off with a bit of luck and one well executed shot.”
2005
The f irst Hong Kong Open in the UBS sponsorship era started as it had finished with Omega the year before – with a another finalhole collapse by James Kingston. A 64 on Saturday had propelled the likeable South African into contention, and when overnight leader Simon Yates – who had a brilliant 61 in the third round – stumbled early, Kingston found himself in sole possession of the lead. Standing on the final tee with a one-stroke advantage over the newly installed European number one Colin Montgomerie, Kingston was determined not to repeat his mistake from the year before where he hit his ball left with a three-wood. He didn’t. Taking a two-iron, the journeyman pushed his tee shot deep into the trees on the right. A chip back to the fairway was followed by an under-cooked wedge which spun off the front of the green. With the spectators expecting him to get up and down from a relatively straightforward position (and therefore extend the tournament into extra holes), Kingston semi-duffed his chip to 10 feet and then missed the putt. A huge groan reverberated around Fanling and Monty was crowned the winner. A teary-eyed Kingston told the assembled press: “I just messed up again for the second straight year. It’s obviously disappointing with the way I finished but that’s golf. I was just so nervous.”
2008 Patrick Leung (Lin); AFP
The 50th anniversary tournament surely ranks as one of the greatest European Tour events of all time, but the fun started long before eventual champion Lin Wen-tang, Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari reached the closing stages. First there was Jason Hak, the 14-year-old amateur from Hong Kong who became the youngest player in European Tour history to 54
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Clockwise from left: Lin Wen-tang pulls off the greatest of miracles in 2008; James Kingston finds trouble; José María Olazábal pulled off a brilliant victory in 2001
make the cut. He celebrated making the weekend action by upstaging José Maria Olazábal – his playing partner in the final round – by outscoring the legendary Spaniard 68 to 69. Then there was John Daly, who kept the driver in the bag and blitzed his way to a stellar 62 on Sunday. But what made this championship was the play-off, which saw Lin become the first Asian player to win the title since Kang Wook-soon in 1998. After pulling his drive into trouble on the first extra hole, Lin, with his opponents safely in the fairway, looked dead and buried. With nothing to lose, the Taiwanese, a regular on the Asian Tour, pulled out a short iron and fired his approach through the foliage, over the greenside bunker to within four feet of the cup. It was nothing short of miraculous, but the drama didn’t end there. McIlroy, who at the time was still without a professional tournament victory to his credit, pitched brilliantly to within tap56
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in distance, and after Molinari narrowly missed his own 10-footer for birdie and Lin holed out, the play-off was down to two. Standing on the 18th tee for the third time of the afternoon, it was McIlroy’s turn to find trouble. Using his hybrid, his drive bounced off the Out of Bounds fence that lines the left side of the hole and finished in a horrible position at the bottom of a tree, not far from where Lin had made his great escape. Buoyed by his good fortune, Lin struck what looked to be a winning drive down the middle of the fairway. But then it was McIlroy’s turn to produce some magic. With 118 yards to go, but with no sight of the pin, the 19-year-old from Northern Ireland snap-hooked a gap-wedge loaded with spin that somehow caught the back of the green and stopped within 12 feet of the flag. High-fiving his caddie, the Irishman was justifiably delighted – but only for a moment, because Lin then pulled off another gem, firing his own wedge to within inches for a cast-iron birdie. Whipping his cap off to the roar of the crowds, it was this shot, rather than his previous miracle approach that showed his sheer determination to win. Up at the green, McIlroy faced a ghastly birdie putt: lighting quick, downhill and with significant left-to-right break. Perhaps not surprisingly, his effort sailed past, and after knocking it in for par the stage was set for Lin, 50 years after Mr Lu had won the inaugural championship, to tap his in for the greatest of victories. HKGOLFER.COM
2010
The 2010 championship was another classic, with Ian Poulter sealing his 10th European Tour title with a tournament record total of 258 (22-under-par). But the Englishman was made to work every inch of the way. Poulter had a decidedly hot putter to thank after taking the second round lead with a jawdropping 10-under-par 60. Consistently hitting the ball to the centre of the small Fanling greens, the 34-year-old was rolling in 10-15-footers with amazing regularity. But come the final round and Poulter, who had followed up with a 64 in the third round, was having to fend off the challenges mounted firstly by former winner Simon Dyson and then Italian teenage phenomenon Matteo Manassero, who fought his way right back into the tournament with a magnificent 62. Rory McIlroy, who had fired the low round on day one with a 63, was in the hunt yet again, but faded over the closing holes. Poulter, who was playing with Graeme McDowell in the f inal group, made the tournament his own with an assured stretch of holes on the back nine, and could afford to bogey the last hole to claim the win by the slimmest of margins. For the record, Poulter made only two bogeys during the entire event, which highlights how unusually friendly the scoring conditions were at Fanling that week.
2011
Charles McLaughlin (Poulter and McIlroy); Daniel Wong (Jimenez)
Rory McIlroy says he loves Hong Kong, and Hong Kong certainly loves him, so it was with no small amount of pleasure to see the Northern Irishman finally seal his first win on Fanling soil with one of the greatest finishes in the tournament’s history. After opening with a superb 64 in blustery conditions, McIlroy failed to make much headway over the next two rounds, carding lacklustre rounds of 69 and 70 to fall three shots off the pace set by Alvaro Quiros, the long-hitting Spaniard. But the final round was a different matter. While Quiros struggled early on Sunday to fall out of contention, McIlroy was magnificent. Fending off the twin challenges of Sweden’s Peter Hanson and playing partner Grégory Havret of France, the 22-year-old reached the 18th hole with a slender one-shot lead. Electing to go with a “hard three-wood” into the wind, McIlroy tugged his drive ever so slightly but it managed to defy science and instead of bounding out-of-bounds, kicked right and into a good lie in the rough some 95 yards from the flag. 58
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Clockwise from left: A third win arrived for Jiménez in 2012; Rory McIlroy couldn’t contain his delight after holing his bunker shot at the final hole a year earlier; Ian Poulter put on a superb putting show to post a record total in 2010 Not that the tournament was over. Catching his pitch maybe a groove too high, McI lroy ’s shot fou nd t he treacherous greenside bunker. With Havret struggling to save par after finding trouble off the tee, the world number two knew that an up-and-down would clinch the title he so craved. But trust McIlroy – coming off the most impressive season of his career – to finish with aplomb. Splashing delicately from some distance below the level of the green, the shot landed softly and trundled unerringly – brilliantly – into the bottom of the cup to complete a marvellous 65 and a twoshot victory. Flinging himself into a celebration quite unlike any we have seen from him before, McIlroy pumped his fist and let out wild screams of joy. It was simply amazing stuff. “I wanted to win this tournament so badly since that playoff in 2008, but finally, to get this trophy in my hands, is very special,” said that year’s US Open winner, who first visited Hong Kong in 2005 when he played the Faldo Series International Trophy. “I’ve loved this city, I’ve loved this golf course, I’ve loved this tournament ever since I got here ... this is definitely one of my favourites.” HKGOLFER.COM
2012
Making only two bogeys all week, Miguel Angel Jiménez held off the challenge of a rejuvenated Fredrik Andersson Hed to win by just one shot at an event that through up plenty of surprises along the way. Jiménez aside, the veterans flourished at Fanling, with New Zealand’s Michael Campbell and Zhang Lian-wei of China featuring on the leader board for most of the tournament before falling back on an enthralling final day. But it was the form of world number one Rory McIlroy that raised more than a few eyebrows. The defending champion opened up with a poor 73 and, despite a bright start to his second round, went into freefall on the back nine to miss the cut. Twentyfour hours later, McIlroy was sunning himself on a Dubai beach with his then tennis-star girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki. Not that Jiménez cared about any of that. With his trade mark cigar in hand, the Spaniard was effusive when asked about his remarkable longevity. “This is maybe the olive oil in my joints, and the nice Rioja wine and those things that keep you fit and flexible,” he beamed. HK GOLFER・OCT 2014
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